Missed That Feeling
by Orchida
Summary: That right there and then I'd give everything... [RikuxKairi]


For xsynthetic-smile. Happy Birthday! I hope you have a fantastic day!

As a side note I've come to the conclusion I have a thing about rain.

Don't own any of it.

**Missed That Feeling**

"Haven't you always wanted to do it?"

Inquisitive and twinkling blue eyes stare back at me, hopeful and waiting. She's teasing, I'm sure of it... I think. I eye her suspiciously, feeling the corner of my eyebrow lift in turn. She raises her head an inch as if to better hear my answer, fingers tapping gently against the table as she waits.

Slowly, I turn to look at what she's talking about, eyeing the downpour of cool and pounding droplets with a look of distaste; watching them fall ever quickening from the sky to drench wherever they land. With a look of amused disapproval at the redhead across from me, I shake my head. "Never."

The smile that never quite made it to her lips dies in place. A watery frown quickly replacing it seconds later. "I always did." She turns back to face the scene outside, moving her hand to cradle her head as she sighs.

Feeling the spirit of the old Kairi quickly fading, I try to keep the conversation rolling. Even if what she's suggesting weren't something I'd normally encourage. "Really?"

"Hmm. Just one of those spur of the moment times, not a caught out and you're forced to."

Having clarified the image, she self-consciously tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, picking up the fork she'd discarded earlier and continuing on with her game of pushing her food around its plate. I eye her uneaten meal with a sigh. The dinner had been her own impromptu idea and was supposed to be a celebration, the start of new things for her.

Unsurprisingly I'd been the first person she called. Each other's comfort friend when something goes inevitably wrong, and predictably she'd been ringing me for weeks now, her voice a little duller each time, my heart breaking every call.

She was stifled, trapped and she needed to get out, could I help her? I'd support her; I'd do whatever it took. She just had to take that first step on her own. I told her I'd be waiting and I could practically feel her smile through the phone. "_You always do."_

Because I was the one that she ran to, the one she relied on, the one she never seemed to see standing right in front of her, waiting.

The last time, not one hour before, her voice had been alarmingly hollow when she spoke, "_Can you come and pick me up?" _In a second I'd dropped everything.

She was paler now then the last time I had seen her; dying from the inside out as she had handed me her bags and left that apartment silently for the last time. Her face hidden by a curtain of hair as she shuffled her way down the street, not looking back even if she was tempted. Never looking back, it wasn't a Kairi thing to do, she had the future, and she had now.

Which was why this new Kairi didn't make sense. "Did?"

Alarmed, she stops poking her food. "Huh?"

I clear my throat. "You said did, you always did. What's stopping you now?"

Blinking she looks at me strangely, taking a minute to contemplate my words. "I did." Her mouth moves slowly as if testing out the sentence on her lips. With a defiant nod, she grabs a hold of her purse, shoving it and all of its belongings into my startled arms.

"What?" She silences me with a look, leaning delicately against the table as she slips her shoes off her feet and tosses them in my direction; throwing me a defiant, daring grin before she speaks.

"You're right. Well I'm going to, now." Not what I was trying to say.

Then before I can even manoeuvre her purse and grab a hold of her wrist, she's off, bare feet thumping against hot tarmac as she runs. A single scream in protest as the icy drops hit her skin.

_Mental suicide? _I roll my eyes as I watch distractedly. …_Kairi... _Shaking my head, I place her purse down onto the table and count the seconds until she comes racing back squealing about it being cold. Waiting, I try my best to ignore the stares of the people around me, alarmed and amused as they watch her in confusion.

Yet after two minutes, I'm still waiting, her scream evolving into laughter as she moves. A wonderfully delicate type of laughter that floats over and brings that silly smile onto my face. The kind of smile that only ever seems to occur when I'm in her company.

"Kairi!"

She ignores my call, twirling in her own space and ignoring everything else around her. Acting, as she has wanted to for so long, like she's free. As free as a bird with her arms wide open, fingertips stretching wide. Trying to gather and feel everything around her at once.

She is the most beautiful that she has ever been in that moment, fragile and strong at the same time, something that nobody can touch.

"Riku! Come on!"

I want to throw her things to the floor and run to join her. I want to take her in my arms and lift her high.

"Riku!"

In that one moment, I'm in awe. In that one moment I realise I don't want to be the one to put a stop to that. I don't want her to stop reaching, my arms to be a prison, be her cage, like everyone before. That right there and then I'd give everything to stay and watch her twirl forever. Sit and watch her spin and see the dizzying stars that light because of that in her eyes.

"Riku, please!" Yet I've never been able to say no. With a show of reluctance that I'm only half feeling, I make my way to her side, hissing as the cold rain hits me all over.

"Riku," She comes to a stop, her hands still wide and encompassing the rain as it falls, breathing heavily as she turns to me and smiles.

For a second I can't say anything and she doesn't feel the need, her eyes intense as they stare into my own.

Her hair is plastered thick to her head, crisscrossing before her eyes and dripping water down her nose and cheeks like tears. She looks to me unsurely, shivering, and her teeth chattering as she wraps her arms tight around her body.

I place a hand to her cheek and wipe the hair from her face, smoothing it back into place so it doesn't run those imaginary tears. "Are you okay?"

She nods, taking a hold of my hand and squeezing her fingers tightly against my own. Instinctively I press myself closer to her, holding her. Somehow keeping a tight hold of her hand and removing my own jacket to wrap around her still shaking shoulders.

She looks up at me questioningly, eyes bashful as she fingers the coat with her free hand. I smile, pressing my forehead to her own and whispering comforting words into her ear. Telling her how silly she is and how loved.

She sighs deeply as she listens, her head instinctively falling into the crook of my shoulder. I pull her gently against me, retracing my steps so that I can retain our contact and pull us back into the relative safety of the restaurant. With a wordless protest, she pulls back, looking at me with confusion and uncertainty.

"Kairi?"

She hesitantly meets my gaze, "I'm sorry," and before I know it her lips are pressed against my own, soft and warm and so tantalisingly sweet that I'm sure I'm about to send us both crashing to the floor any second now.

Her hands wind through my hair and my own wrap around her back, pulling her close and into me with unnecessary force. My jacket slips off her shoulders and onto the floor, no longer a source of protection as the rain hits us both freely.

In a move that seems far too sudden, she pulls back shyly, a now pink and healthy tinge to her cheeks and warmth to her smile like the old days. Everything about her glowing as she stares at me uncertainly, waiting hesitantly as if to gage my reaction.

Slowly I blink back to life, my lips quirking into that silly smile, try as I might to hold it back. Her eyes slipping closed as she stretches up on tip toes to kiss the tip of my nose.

"Thank you."

**End.**

Let me know what you think…


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